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Zane walked along the rugged cobblestone roads leading to the market. He was getting hungry and he had very little money on him, he was planning on entertaining people with his acrobatics and agility. Zaden smiled to himself and thought how much of a fool people were for not recognizing his abnormal natures before, perhaps when he was a kid. He morphed into his in-between state, orange ears poking through his skull and a tail swishing behind him cheerfully. People thought these were fake and every once in a while he would wear fake ones to fool them.

Reaching the market, Zane cleared a space for himself and prepared his tricks. He usually dared grown men and more fit men his age to foot race him, offering them a head start. Zane always won, even when he gave head starts from his animal side, careful not to roar. Smiling to himself, Zane finished setting up and stretched, ready for the oncoming performance.

Ceilibell stood across the square, the same idea as Zane's on her mind. She noted his ears with amusement. Looks like there will be two cats performing today. Thought she didn't know whether or not his were real, hers most certainly were.

She was almost ready for her own performance, dressed in solid red and lighter, gauzy black and a long braid down her back. She pulled out a viola from a burlap sack that seemed too small for it, tuning it and running through a few warm up tunes. She knew it was perfectly tuned though, it was mostly for the benefit of the people, letting them know she was about to start. Soon, a light and jovial tune filled the air.

Zane watched the girl come into the square and set up. "Really?" he mumbled, joining the group of mesmerized people form around her as she started to play the tune, clearly not under her spell. He listened for a moment then had a pretty good idea, one that would benefit both of them while they both performed.

Zane threw his small cap onto the dusty ground and took his jacket off, tossing it onto his other stuff. A single flip marked the start of his routine, but not to his musicians music. He used the girls music as a foundation of his moves, making new moves for himself as he "danced". He flipped, kicked, twirled, and jumped to the light music, people now noticing him and dancing to her music.

Ceilibell hid her grin as she watched Zane's moves. She didn't have much of an objection to sharing her music to benefit them both. He was pretty good, and she wondered just how good. The tune became more intricate and harder to predict. Let's see how you dance to that. She thought with a mischievous grin.

Zane recognized the change in music and laughed as it sped up fast and slowed down just as fast. Truthfully he liked this music more then the one she started with, it suited is tiger form more. Letting out another laugh, he started doing more complex tricks and then dancing when the music changed to the slower tune.

Sometime during a slow transition, it started pouring rain. Flattening the hair on his ears, Zane continued dancing to the never ending tune, determined not to give up until after she did.

Ceilibell finished with a flourish. She shook her head at Zane, determined to keep going even in the rain. It was admirable though. People wouldn't want to stay around in the rain, and neither did she for that matter.

She put the viola back into the burlap sack quickly and ran over to Zane, hoping to catch him before he left. She received tips from people as she walked through the dispersing crowd, which she received with a smile of thanks before going on.

Zane smiled, seeing her shake her head and put her viola away in the case. Zane stopped dancing/ flipping to avoid slipping and breaking his neck and headed over to his stuff. He picked up his bag, not really caring that it was raining and he was already drenched, and saw the girl run over to him. He quietly laughed to himself as she ran on a slippery part of the market, positive she was going to fall.

Ceilibell must have been lucky, as she was able to get over to him almost without incident. She had a bit of balance from her own dancing practice, but before she knew it, found her foot slipping all the same. Her eyes widened in surprise and she braced herself for the impact. Not that falling on your butt really hurt anything except maybe your pride.

Using his tiger speed, Zane managed to catch her before she fell onto her butt. "Walk much?" he joked as he helped her to her feet, aware that they were both drenched to the bone and the whole market was empty. He let go and tossed her his dry-ish jacket to wear.

"You needed me?" he asked getting his stuff together and taking his shoes off to keep them dry. He walked back over to her, mud slipping in between his toes, and smiled. He was a rather friendly guy, it just depended on what time of the day you caught him.

Ceilibell wrapped the jacket around her shoulders with a grateful smile. She was already barefoot but didn't mind the feeling of the mud between her toes. Her diaphanous outer clothing now clung to her and the red of her outfit grew darker with the rain.

"I just wanted to say, you've got some pretty impressive moves." She said as she started walking toward the town's inn. It was modest and the workers were friendly. She glanced at Zane's ears, no sign of being fake even when up close as she was. "So, uh, those real?" She asked in an offhanded tone, trying to imitate an indifference to the answer. She hadn't seen any other anthros except for a few gypsies and not any in this region.

"Thanks." He simply said, following her to the inn. He needed a nice mug of beer or something to keep him sharp. "Why don't you see for yourself." Zane said with a wink, squatting down so she could reach his head. "Just don't pull to hard." he said laughing, waiting for her touch on his real and fuzzy tiger ears.

He almost never let people touch his ears, but she had a way with music that most people never had. A special gift you could say, emphasis on special.

She reached out gingerly and tugged lightly on the ears. She grinned when she realized they were real. "Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one here." She said as she relaxed her own ears and tail. It was a lot easier to make them look fake if they didn't move.

Zane smiled as they neared the Inn, opening the door for the girl. "I'm Zane, by the way." he said walking inside after she was in and sat down in a booth in the corner. "So, you have a way with music." He said trying to keep the conversation up, he was horrible talking to girls.

Xiana worked at the inn, serving drinks and food to the customers. She hated the job because most of the guys that came in were rude and perverts. But despite that, she worked hard because she needed the money. She saw a girl and guy walk into the in and wouldn't have paid much attention to them if they were normal. But they're ears caught her eye and she wondered if they were like her.

Zane attempted to wave one of the tenders down to buy a drink for himself and the girl. I don't even know her name yet. the thought popped into his mind. Dismissing the disturbing thought, he leaned back in the booth, hoping to get someone to notice them to get a drink. Who knows, he might even but the girl who is going to serve them a drink for actually coming over and helping them, soaking wet and everything.

She sees the guy wave at her for a drink. She fills up for mugs, two for them and the other two for another table. She puts it on a tray and walks over to them. Suddenly a drunk bumps into her and the drinks fly into the air. She gets angry and her golden and black striped tiger tail and ears suddenly pop out. With a swift motion she catches 3 mugs on the tray and the fourth with her tail without spilling a drop. She sighs with relief and turns and glares at the drunk, who backs off afraid and apologetically. I swear if I wasn't working right now I'd- Suddenly remembers she has customers waiting. She gives two drinks to the other table then walks to the guy and girls table, setting down the drinks onto their table "There you go sir"

The sudden sprouting of her ears and tail surprised Zane, but not enough to not want to give her a drink still. "Uh, actually we need three." he said with an apologetic smile, handing the second mug to Ceilibell and taking a drink from his.

"Oh. Of course sir" she smiles, and walks off to get them another drink. Seconds later she brings another to the table. "There you go"

"Actually it's a treat for you for helping us." Zane said, taking another sip of his drink and resting his head on the back of the booth.

Leina blinks surprised. "For me?" she looks around and sees nobody needs her service right now and looks back at the guy "Th-thank you sir.."